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I haven't had to lie but if I felt the need to I wouldn't hesitate. After all the horrible abusive behavior I've seen from companies and the dysfunctional, unfairness in hiring I find the expectation of 100% honesty from applicants classic do as I say not as I do.
Though everyone does lie
Why are you seeking employment?
My boss is an @hole and I want more money
Why did you apply here?
You pay decently and are close the where I live.
Describe a time you had a conflict with a coworker:
We screamed and cursed at eachother
Describe you greatest weakness:
I am disorganized, don't trust authority, hot tempered....
I haven't had to lie but if I felt the need to I wouldn't hesitate. After all the horrible abusive behavior I've seen from companies and the dysfunctional, unfairness in hiring I find the expectation of 100% honesty from applicants classic do as I say not as I do.
What about lying vs white lies. I would not recommend you lie about job titles, salary, or education levels received. But what about stretching, or greatly overexaggerating, some of your job responsibilities? If you are younger or an entry-level guy and don't have much experience, being honest isn't always going to help you.
I had a boss (around 40 years old) once who had only a very tenuous relationship with honesty. Our company was closing down, so we were all working diligently on our resumes. He stuck his head out of his office and asked me what was higher rank in the Army, Captain or Major. I told him and shortly after, he gave me his resume to prepare (I had to....I was his Admin.)
On the resume, he had listed that he had served as a Major in the army for four years. I knew for a fact that he had been in ROTC in college and had quit after a month because "it was just too hot to do all that marching outside", and that was his total involvement with the military.
He also listed all the "offices" he had held in college and all the way back to high school....yes high school.....in which he had claimed to be the Senior Class President, President of the Student Council, and Prom King...yes, Prom King. My brother-in-law had graduated from high school with this guy and gave me their senior year book to check out. Mr. Big-Man-On-Campus had been in the Glee Club and French Club. That's it.
Bad enough to lie about being in the service but what kind of idiot at 40 goes to all the trouble of lying in a resume about what he did in HIGH SCHOOL 20-some-odd years ago? Oh, yeah.....my idiot boss.
What about lying vs white lies. I would not recommend you lie about job titles, salary, or education levels received. But what about stretching, or greatly overexaggerating, some of your job responsibilities? If you are younger or an entry-level guy and don't have much experience, being honest isn't always going to help you.
Every lie is a risk. I'd understand risk management and what is easy to get away with. I'd do fake references, fake jobs, not at an existing company, lie about salary, and job duties. I'd definitely not fake degrees and definitely not lie for any licensed or clearance/public safety type of position.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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I have never lied on a resume, and never had to, because I only applied for jobs that I was well qualified for. As a hiring manager for many years at 3 different places, I know how to expose lies and exaggeration during the interviews. I have in fact eliminated many an applicant when their interview didn't support the claims on their resume. If someone did slip through, anything found to be false on an application or resume is grounds for immediate dismissal where I work now and where I worked previously, regardless of how long they have been on the job or their performance. In some states it is actually considered fraud and a civil offense. In Texas, for example, claiming a college degree you don’t have to get a job is a Class B misdemeanor, with a maximum prison sentence of six months. In Kentucky, it's a Class A misdemeanor, which is up to a year in prison. In New Jersey, you could face up to $1,000 in fines for each offense.
I've never done this and the thought of working with people who have pisses me off.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mshultz
I have never done this. From what I have been reading, it is quite common, which makes me wonder how many opportunities I have missed out on because someone's fictitious resume is better than my real one.
Quote:
Originally Posted by goodlife36
I do not lie.
All of these.
The biggest lie I've seen irl (but it got exposed so doesn't quite fit your "got away with" line) was the coworker who indicated having received a bachelor's degree when in fact she did not. It wasn't caught for quite some time, and was only caught because she mentioned something to a coworker who mentioned it to admin who finally actually checked out her resume claims. Why they didn't do a check in the first place? Maybe they, like me, are honest and just assume that's the natural human condition. I'm sure they check now.
I would only lie if it wasn't easily verifiable and no I don't feel bad about it because employers lie too. It's human nature to lie and employers are humans so we all do it, does it make it right? No but sometimes you have to do it.
What also bothers me is that some employers lie but when/if they catch candidates lying than it's wrong. A bunch of hypocrites, if you're going to lie than don't be surprised when the candidates lies as well, grrrrrrrrrr.
I just posted that a friend of mind got a fantastic job because she covered up her one year gap by putting down on her resume the previous job she had and listed it as if she was still working there. Since they didn't check her "current" job, she was in.
It's sad, but had she not done this, the employer wouldn't have called her. She did not lie about her skills, her salary, her education, etc.
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